U.S. astronaut Peggy Whitson, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Novitsky, and French astronaut Thomas Pesquet pose for pictures during a press conference at the Russian-leased Baikonur cosmodrome on Nov. 16.

Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP/Getty Images

Greetings, Future Tensers,

Nothing gets me in the spirit of International Womans Day quite like reading two accomplished female leaders on the future of space exploration. Lindy Elkins-Tanton, director of the School of Earth and Space Exploration at Arizona State University, and Ellen Stofan, the former chief scientist of NASA, continue our March Futurography unit on the New Space Race by exploring the role of competition and collaboration in space endeavors. Elkins-Tanton writes that the purpose of space exploration is more than just scientific discoveryits about inspiration. She warns that if India or China beats the U.S. to Mars, it would be akin to a military defeat. Stofan says that we wont get to our next big space milestone without international collaboration, writing, When you are exploring space, going it alone has never been, and will never be, an option.

On a more terrestrial note, WikiLeaks has released thousands of new documents detailing the CIAs hacking capabilities. The document dump shows the CIAs ability to hack smartphones, computers, and smart TVsnot just your AOL email accounts. (Im looking at you, Vice President Pence.)

Other things we read this week while testing our reading comprehension before trolling the comments section:

Sent from my iPhone, Emily Fritcke For Future Tense

Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University.

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Future Tense Newsletter: Space Exploration Isn't Just About Scientific Discovery - Slate Magazine (blog)